When Silence Becomes a Meme

necroalgorithmization and algorithmic audism

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of algorithmic audism as an analytical tool to understand how phonocentrism operates within the regimes of visibility of digital platforms. Building on the notion of necroalgorithmization (Araújo, 2025a), we investigate how algorithms reproduce and intensify exclusionary practices directed at the Deaf community. Anchored in critical discourse approaches (Fairclough, 2001; Pennycook, 2006), the study analyzes the linguistic-semiotic landscape of Instagram, with particular attention to the pejorative circulation of the term “mudinho” (literally “little mute”). The methodology involved a critical analysis of multimodal utterances – including emojis, captions, and images – that reveal practices of mockery and silencing, articulated with algorithmic curation mechanisms. The findings demonstrate that these practices are not neutral; rather, they perform normalized exclusions, transforming viral laughter into a tool of dehumanization. We argue that algorithmic audism constitutes part of an aesthetic of necroalgorithmization, functioning as a power device that delimits regimes of sayability and renders Deaf bodies invisible. We conclude that naming this phenomenon broadens the scope of Critical Language Studies and contributes to the promotion of epistemic justice by recognizing the plurality of human languages, their dissident aesthetics, and their legitimate modes of existence.